Cost of living comparison

China

compared to

Spain

San Sebastian vs. Beijing Cost of Living Summary

San Sebastian is 56.6% more expensive than Beijing.

Restaurants: pay 3.3 times more in San Sebastian
Groceries: pay 51.6% more in San Sebastian
Transportation: pay 48.4% more in San Sebastian
Housing: pay 78.3% more in San Sebastian
Childcare: pay 37.6% less in San Sebastian
Entertainment and Sports: pay 18.5% more in San Sebastian
Clothing: pay 6.8% less in San Sebastian

The cost of restaurants, housing, groceries, transportation, and entertainment and sports in San Sebastian are more expensive than in Beijing. Expenses including childcare and clothing are lower in San Sebastian. Notably, restaurants and housing are significantly more expensive in San Sebastian.

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San Sebastian vs. Beijing Cost Breakdown

If you lived in San Sebastian instead of Beijing, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 3.3 times more for restaurants

	Beijing	San Sebastian
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.47 CN¥29.94	$16.80 €14.95	+275.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.22 CN¥34.93	$10.64 €9.47	+103.8%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.52 CN¥3.49	$2.80 €2.49	+436.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.27 CN¥1.82	$1.60 €1.42	+485.8%
Average			+228.4%

Beijing vs. San Sebastian - Cost of restaurants

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pay 51.6% more for groceries

	Beijing	San Sebastian
Bread 1 loaf	$1.73 CN¥11.56	$1.03 €0.92	-40.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$7.22 CN¥48.28	$11.34 €10.09	+57.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.41 CN¥42.88	$4.42 €3.93	-31.0%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.02 CN¥13.53	$3.64 €3.24	+80.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.47 CN¥9.81	$3.68 €3.28	+151.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.93 CN¥6.25	$1.16 €1.04	+24.6%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.79 CN¥5.28	$1.07 €0.95	+35.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.93 CN¥6.21	$1.49 €1.32	+60.3%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.71 CN¥4.75	$1.30 €1.16	+83.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.32 CN¥2.15	$0.95 €0.84	+194.4%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.40 CN¥2.66	$0.90 €0.81	+128.0%
Average			+51.6%

Beijing vs. San Sebastian - Cost of groceries

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pay 48.4% more for transportation

	Beijing	San Sebastian
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.96 CN¥33.20	$6.62 €5.89	+33.5%
Monthly public transit pass	$34.30 CN¥229.53	$33.59 €29.90	-2.1%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$19,374.76 CN¥130K	$36,315.82 €32,322.39	+87.4%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$4.68 CN¥31.34	$14.15 €12.60	+202.2%
Average			+48.4%

Beijing vs. San Sebastian - Cost of transportation

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pay 78.3% more for housing

	Beijing	San Sebastian
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$14.27 CN¥95.47	$35.27 €31.39	+147.2%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$936.67 CN¥6,267.07	$1,404.47 €1,250.03	+49.9%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$530.98 CN¥3,552.67	$973.61 €866.55	+83.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$44.49 CN¥297.65	$104.82 €93.29	+135.6%
Average			+78.3%

Beijing vs. San Sebastian - Cost of housing

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pay 37.6% less for childcare

	Beijing	San Sebastian
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$653.29 CN¥4,371.01	$447.89 €398.64	-31.4%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$24,281.96 CN¥162K	$13,784.69 €12,268.87	-43.2%
Average			-37.6%

Beijing vs. San Sebastian - Cost of childcare

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pay 18.5% more for entertainment and sports

	Beijing	San Sebastian
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.19 CN¥7.98	$3.36 €2.99	+181.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.60 CN¥24.09	$2.05 €1.83	-43.0%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.33 CN¥28.94	$6.16 €5.48	+42.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$41.45 CN¥277.32	$42.83 €38.12	+3.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.46 CN¥49.90	$8.45 €7.52	+13.4%
Average			+18.5%

Beijing vs. San Sebastian - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 6.8% less for clothing

	Beijing	San Sebastian
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$70.55 CN¥472.03	$72.78 €64.78	+3.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$40.41 CN¥270.36	$32.19 €28.65	-20.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$86.99 CN¥582.00	$74.46 €66.27	-14.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$125.40 CN¥839.02	$134.37 €119.59	+7.2%
Average			-6.8%

Beijing vs. San Sebastian - Cost of clothing

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We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Sources: MyLifeElsewhere's cost-of-living dataset (prices updated October 2026). How we calculate this

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